Classical Music Symposium

Is the world moving just a bit too fast for you? High-speed internet, instant messaging, faster connections, everything is just faster-faster, faster!? Now-days, it seems like everyone is talking about the latest buzz, newest fads, what's in and what's out.

But if you need something that's enduring, something that's charming, classic, and cool, then calm yourself with classical music. Classical music takes its time, telling you a story and painting a musical picture that can't be rushed.

Be it from the Baroque to Bartok; from the early days of the Medieval Gregorian chants and right up to the post-classical composers of today, classical music is always there for you no matter what your mood. Essential is almost each and every form of musical expression, classical music encompasses a virtually infinite spectrum of sounds, style, and information.

A thread dedicated to music lovers young and old.



(The Mozart family: Leopold, Wolfgang, and Nannerl. Circa 1763)

I know we have several classical music aficionados here on the bb and hopefully we can generate some great discussion that's fun and enlightening for all. I think it'd only be right to start with a work from a very good friend of ours, Mr. Nino Rota, the composer of our beloved Godfather Waltz and accompanying pieces. This is a very heartmoving piece from Rota written for the 1968 film, "Romeo and Juliet," appropriately entitled "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet."

Rota's love theme was rerecorded and arranged with great success by another legend; Henry Mancini, a composer, conductor, and arranger also known for his jazz movements, his most notable work being the jazzy score from "The Pink Panther" film series. Mancini's instrumental version of Rota's Love Theme (originally titled "What Is A Youth," and later remaned "A Time For Us") actually crossed over all genres, becoming a smash-hit among pop audiences and ascending to the 1969 Billboards #1 spot for 2 weeks! Supplanting songs from the likes of the Beatles and Rolling Stones.

Ralph Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending" for violin and orchestra is one of the more stirring and moving pieces of classical music that I've ever heard. It's a dreamy, tranquil, freeflowing work that was considered very progressive and innovative for its day, yet one that is nonetheless steeped in the English folk traditions that are prevelant in most of Williams' music.

To me, the song is more than just a musical expression, it also has poetic value and is in fact based on a poem by the same title. The music harmoniously tells the story of a lark's ascent into the skies on a sunny, English afternoon, but does so through the viewpoint of an observer watching from the ground; we the audience. The higher the bird ascends, the more enchanting and compelling the music becomes. The lark soars toward the heavens and slowly makes its way out of our view, the music carried away along with it. The euphoria of watching the ascent is expressed through the extreme variances of tone in the violin.

But the lark analogizes us, I think. That we are all larks in ascension at each and every moment of our lives.





Part 2-2 Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending

Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 10 for Two Pianos was written in 1779, just before Mozart would leave Salzburg to take his talents to Vienna, "The City of Music." The former child prodigy was now 23 at this time, and would spend the rest of his days in Vienna, where he composed some of his best works right up until his early death.

This concerto for double pianos is certainly one of the more livelier and lyrical works ever produced: The finale is a rondo filled with rhythmic drive and, after passages of lyrical grace, there is an exuberant return to the main rondo theme. Now, why Mozart left Salzburg for Vienna shortly after this piano concerto remains in question. But undoubtably, the reason Mozart chose to write this particular concerto for DOUBLE piano was so that he could play it with his sister, who had taught her little brother to play piano when the two were just 7 and 3 years of age.

This is the 3rd and final movement of this striking piece; a very fun and lively little number performed by a male-female team on pianos, who give us an idea of what the interplay between Mozart and his sister Nannerl might have looked and sounded like as the two pianos exhanged musical ideas. Mozart may not have invented the double piano concerto, but he certainly perfected it:

The Bach Suite in G Major, played by Yo Yo Ma. This music is incredibly beautiful, but he brings it to another dimension.

The chorus "va peniero sull'a li dorate" from Nabucco by Verdi sends chills up my spine whenever I hear it.

dt, from what I understand, "The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" is the only chorus that has ever been allowed an encore at the Metropolitan Opera.

SB, that is such a great song to start the morning with and a very cool performance. The performer makes all the difference in classical music. And I love Bach. Without Bach there is no Mozart, no Schubert, no Beethoven.

What do you guys think of Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World"? The piece was inspired by Dvorak's trip to New York from his native Bohemia in 1893, incorporating various indigenous American sounds that Dvorak heard during his 3 year travels across the country - most notably Native and African American spirituals. Though inevitably the song more closely resembles the sounds of Dvorak's Bohemian roots of which he was very fond, it does have a connection to very contempary American pop culture in that, the first line of the fourth movement is the source from which the famous two-note main theme from "Jaws" is derived.

And talk about a song that transcends sheer musical form, the introduction rises slowly and dramatically, giving the listener a sense of the anticipation one might have felt aboard a boat as she first caught sight of the "New World."

Neil Armstrong is said to have taken a copy of the song with him on his maiden voyage to the moon.



Dvorak Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" 2nd movement

Dvorak Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" 3rd movement

Borodin's String Quartets Nos. 1&2 are among my favorites, especially the "Nocturne." Among the musical intermezzos from opera: "Cavalleria's" is the best known of Mascagni's, and always moves me. But I also love his "Barcarole" from "Sylvano," and the "Intermezzo" from "Guglielmo Ratcliff."

Not to be a party pooper, but I must inject here that IMHO
the most overrated piece of classical music of all time is
Handel's Messiah.

Chopin's my homeboy.

Whenever I hear it, his work reduces me or inflates me to an indescribable feeling, without fail.

In addition to musical innovatar, Chopin was also a patriotic hero in his native Poland. So much so that the Nazi's destroyed a statue of him in downtown Warsaw during WWII. You should check out the film "A Song To Remember" from 1945, a somewhat fictionalized account of the composer's life directed by Charles Vidor (also directed "Gilda").

And I'm sure that Turnbull & dt are well aware that September is an exciting time for Classical fans everywhere, as this month marks the beginning of Opera season all over the world! The Met will kick off its season on the 21st with Puccini's "Tosca," and the week will include performances of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," AND "The Marriage of Figaro." One way to listen live (1:00e.t) on Saturdays from the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center is through www.kmfa.org. One of very few 24-hour classical stations around the nation that's also commercial free, the station airs live broadcasts from the Met every Saturday amongst a bevy of other daily programming. I highly recommend kmfa to anyone at anytime of the day.

Oh, and I just checked the schedule at the Novaya Opera in Moscow, where our good friend 'Just Me' is a pianist, and I noticed their season started Wednesday night with Strauss's "Die Fledermaus (The Bat)", and this weekend's performances will include Rossini's "The Barber of Seville." So best of luck to JM and the rest of the crew there.

Yes, it's an exciting time of year at home and abroad as the start of Football season coincides with the start of Opera season, and husbands all over the world are finding ways to avoid taking their wives to the Opera so they can stay home and watch Football.

LOVE Chopin, but my favorite piece is Prelude in A Major.

I love the Met. My dad loved opera and used to take me to the Met when I was a little girl. Back then, evening wear was expected, if not required. Half of the experience was dressing up, seeing my parents in evening clothes, the beauty of the theater and the audience, watching the chandeliers ascend before the performance. It was wonderful.

He took me to see "Madame Butterfly", "La Boheme", "Rigoletto", "Cavalleria"/"Pagliacci" and "La Traviata". They were experiences I'll never forget.

Alas, no Met here in AZ, although if I drive to Scottsdale, I can see the Met broadcasts in HD at one of the movie theaters. NPR station here doesn't carry Met Live.

"Tosca" isn't one of my favorite operas. But I have a recording of Leontyne Price singing "Vissi d'Arte" that is just unsurpassed.

TB you ever get up to Santa Fe? I hear they have a pretty good opera house and company there.

Kudos for the blasphemy on Tosca! I feel the same way about Lucia del Amamoor.

This is me singing the Leporello Aria of Mozart's Don Giovanni (in German).

The Santa Fe Opera Company is highly regarded, but it's next to impossible to get tix. I also can't stand "Lucia."

Very nice, Danito!

Good stuff Danito!


I love these two :

Moonlight Sonata





Claude Debussy, "Clair de Lune"






But Rachmaninov - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini: Var 18 is my all time favorite :

Very impressive, Danito. You have a good, powerful voice.

Danito,

I won't pretend to be an opera expert, and don't have a clue what words you are singing, but you do have a nice voice and obviously put a lot of feeling into your performance. Let me add too, that you appear very comfortale performing.

Very nice.


TIS

Turnbull my friend, this one's for you!

I wonder how many American and Western brides know that the famous "bridal chorus" accompanying their epic walk down the aisle actually originates from the 3rd act of a German fairy-tale Opera called Lohengrin, written by Richard Wagner in 1850. The essential wedding song for almost every American bride was of course originally sung in German, and is about 5 minutes in length. Lohengrin is a love story that involves the quest for the Holy Grail, but one that ends tragically soon after the "bridal chorus" welcomes the opera's newly wed couple home. The opera inspried King Ludwig II (The 'fairy-tale' King) of Bavaria to build a fairy-tale castle called "New Swan Stone," after the main character.

"The Bridal Chorus" is of course excluded from Jewish weddings and is deemed secular by the Roman Catholic church. Few of Wagner's works are shown in Israel b/c of their appropriation by the Nazis. Thanks to the efforts of Jewish artists like Leonard Bernstein, who long petitioned to have Wagner's music played in Israel, Wagner's works have been on display but are sometimes met with stiff resistance and protest. "The Ring" was used by Nazi propagandists to promote the idea of an Aryan Super Man, and it's true, many of Wagner's operas involve ancient Nordic myths and tales of Knights and their fair maidens, but I think he's somewhat unfairly portrayed as anti-semitic due to Hitler and Goebbels' absolute adoration for "the master."

Let's listen to "The Bridal Chorus" sung in its original German from the 3rd act of Wagner's Lohengrin. This is a very beautiful performance from Stockholm in 1966 (You may have to adjust your volume a bit upwards).

Meanwhile, patrons of NY's Metropolitan Opera got rowdy at the premier of a new production of "Tosca" (attention: dt!):

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/0...osca&st=cse

Meanwhile Wagner's music has been performed in Israel.

Meanwhile, after careful reevaluation, Wagner's essay "Judaism in Music" has been added to the Wiesenthal Center's library and archives.

Well, I just want it known that my understanding of classical music is quite elementary, by no means am I a "patron of the arts."

But hey, I know what I like.

I've found about 50-100 of my favorite songs on youtube that I'm dieing to share in this thread, but for me, music is really all about mood, and one of my great pleasures is coming home at the end of a long day and listening to composers like Claude Debussy as the sun goes down.

So here's one for my fellow Debussy fan, Don Cardi!



And a shout-out to Capo's homey, Frederic f*ing Chopin. Have you heard this one, Capo? I'm not a HUGE Chopin fan as of yet, but this piece is very deep; one with great dissonance and resonance.

I also wonder how many of us are aware that the famous "Lullaby" we sing to babies is originally a German composition, written by Johannes Brahms in 1868. Below is a very beautiful performance sung in Hebrew, English and German.

If it's not already overtly obvious, I have extreme admiration for zee Germans.


Johannes Brahms' original version was composed in German:

Guten Abend, gute Nacht, mit Rosen bedacht,
Mit Näglein besteckt, schlüpf unter die Deck!'
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wieder geweckt
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wieder geweckt
Guten Abend, gute Nacht, von Englein bewacht
Die zeigen im Traum, dir Christkindleins Baum
Schlaf nun selig und süß, schau im Traum's Paradies
Schlaf nun selig und süß, schau im Traum's Paradies

A close English translation of which is:

Good evening, and good night, with roses adorned,
With carnations covered, slip under the covers.
Early tomorrow, God willing, you will wake once again.
Early tomorrow, God willing, you will wake once again.
Good evening, and good night. By angels watched,
Who show you in your dream the Christ-child's tree.
Sleep now peacefully and sweetly, see the paradise in your dream.
Sleep now peacefully and sweetly, see the paradise in your dream.

All of the back-and-forth between the German and Italian composers in this thread reminds of a line from a poem written to posthumously accompany Camille Saint-Saens' The Carnival of the Animals (1886).

Puccini was Latin, and Wagner Teutonic,
And birds are incurable philharmonic,
Suburban yards and rural vistas
Are filled with avian Andrew Sisters.
The skylark sings a roundelay,
The crow sings “The Road to Mandalay,”
The nightingale sings a lullaby,
And the sea gull sings a gullaby.
That’s what shepherds listened to in Arcadia
Before somebody invented the radia.

Although I do have a special fondness for the 'Teutonic', French, Russian, and English composers; Italian composers, in addition to being the leaders of the post-Renaissance 'Baroque' era, all seem to have a certain richness and fullness to their sounds. One piece that comes to mind is Ottorino Respighi's 3rd movement from "Ancient Airs and Dances." Respighi, a neo-classical composer from the early 20th century who drew inspiration from preceding Italian composers, was also a musicologist who studied the sounds of various Italian contemporaries from the past.

The 3rd movement of this piece is comprised of two movements: the "Siciliana," and the "Italiana." The Italiana I especially enjoy; a banquet type piece noted for its refinement and elegance:

I see youtube removed the Antonin Dvorak vid I posted, so here's another.

It's Dvorak's "Romance" for violin...a sad romance.

Mozart's Requiem was used at the end of "Elizabeth" , which of course had a huge Godfather influence. Now I always associate that piece with "Elizabeth".

Cool stuff, Lilo. I was aware of Elizabeth's relation to The Godfather b/c I've heard TB and the guys talk about it in the GF forums, but I haven't seen it. I'm sure you're familiar with Milo Forman's Academy Award winning film from 1984, "Amadeus", a film that in addition to winning best picture, had a rare double nomination for Best Actors with Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham. It's a somewhat fictionalized account of Mozart's life, but is ranked as one of the top 50 movies of all time by AFI.

The movie's version of Mozart's life plays out with his death at the hands of his own creativity, as basically, he is commissioned (under false and malicious pretenses by fellow composer Antonio Salieri) to write the requiem, and b/c he so entranced himself into his art, life, and work, in order to write the perfect death score he would have to experience death himself - as if one would have to truly know death in order to write about it.

Very powerful:

Here are some I really like:

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sings The Merry Widow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2jRkp6Ucho&NR=1#
You Opera fans (Tb, dt, SB, Danito, etc.) will especially enjoy this one. One of the best mezzo sopranos ever performing (live) a song made famous in Classic Hollywood from the film "The Merry Widow," originally sung by Jeannette McDonald.

Kiri Kanawa sings "Porgi Amor," from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB8IWGJl7Nw&feature=related

Claude Debussy: Two Arabesques
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blcrde0zPaU
Soothing, dreamy, Debussy dissonance at its best.

Claude Debussy - Sacred and Profane Dances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k_JgPV2jGE
Ditto. Amber Burdick plays harp with the Azusa Pacific University Symphony Orchestra.

Charles Howells - Spotless Rose (Chorale)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AWFKSWdWk4&feature=related
"A hymm to the Virgin Mary" Performed by The Giltspur Singers (Conductor: Christopher Maxim) perform Herbert Howells's 'A Spotless Rose' (Baritone solo: Christopher Goodwin) at their Christmas Concert at St Clement Danes, The Strand, London;

Maurice Ravel - The Fountain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KElaYY_FL5U

Brahms Waltz Opus 39 no15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ8s5_n7zi8&feature=related
Performed (1991) by young Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin.

Gabriel Faure - The Dolly Suite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSEFjpfk_Xs

J.S Bach - Sheep may safely graze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3_v8zNssRg&feature=related
Live-Recording in Vercelli/Italy on 12 October 2006, performed by BORIS FEINER, Concert Pianist and Composer.

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Five Variants of Dives & Lazarus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ4bx4r1VeQ
"...a parable attributed to Jesus that is reported only in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 16:19-16:31). It is also known as "The Rich Man and the Beggar Lazarus." The wealthy man is traditionally called "Dives", after the Latin word for "rich man" (though in the Biblical text he is only referred to as the rich man).[1] The story has been a favorite for artists and theologians, as it is the most vivid account of the afterlife to be found in the New Testament."

Even if you're the type who thinks you could NEVER, ever stomach Opera, The Marriage of Figaro may very well change your mind. This is just one of those pieces where the acting and music come together so brilliantly that it becomes a must see for even the most casual spectator of the performing arts.

And Porgi Amor is really one of the ultimate all-time love songs:

We recently drove to a Scottsdale movie theater to see the Metropolitan Opera's live HD broadcast of "Turandot." This is a Franco Zeferelli production that we saw several years ago at the Met in NYC. "Turandot" is not one of Puccini's greatest operas, IMO, but Zeferelli's production is irresistably lavish and entertaining.
Watching it in the theater, even though it was broadcast live, was more of a "movie" experience than "live." But the other side was that the camera work enabled us to see the close-up acting that you can't really focus in on when you're sitting in the audience at the Met. Plus, the backstage interviews were highly amusing. And the price was right. Overall, a very enjoyable experience. We plan to go back in May for Rossini's "Armida."

i'm not exactly well versed in classical music, but like is often the case, my love of movies gives me a little exposure. 'a clockwork orange' and '2001: a space odyssey' are both beautiful soundtracks and a get a good listen in my house.

in particular the space station scenes in 2001 with strauss' the blue danube playing are some of the best imagery/music combos i've ever seen.

I really like the version that the Modern Jazz Quartet did with the Swingle Swingers but this one is also pretty good..

Very nice, Lilo. I hope to get as many types of music in this thread as possible!

Injecktilo - some friends are I were discussing just the other day how classical music resonates into so many artworks you'd never suspect ranging from Bugs Bunny cartoons to Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece "A Clockwork Orange" as you said, which uses Beethoven's legendary 9th symphany for virtually it's ENTIRE score! -- And a fun little side-note I've often heard to Strauss' Blue Danube concerns the meaning of 'Blue,' which would most likely mean sad, or glum; but in fact, means blue as in "bubbly," or DRUNK!

TB - I got to see 'La Boheme' at opening night last year at the Austin Lyric Opera; it was very good, a strong performance considering it was opening night but I wasn't all to familiar with the story going in so it's hard for me to rate the opera as a whole. I'm glad you and your wife have a venue to view those amazing new HD live and up-close performances, perhaps even better than the real thing, ya? And now Opera season is just right around the corner!

***
Haven't updated this thread in ages, so I have to make up for lost time here. (And remember you can listen to classical music free at www.kmfa.org at any time of the day. In addition to regular programing the station offers various live performances from places like the Met, the Concertgebouw in Holland, amongst a bevy of other programs throughout the week--I'll post a schedule later.)

Franz Schubert - Ave Maria (Trinity College Cambridge Choir)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_AaMU3OME
This is one of my favorite versions of Ave Maria I've heard in some time. It's a more tranquil and less "agitato" rendition than what usually accompanies this piece. This has a much more organic sound about it and I really think this version, sung by the Trinity College (Cambridge) Choir, is the way Schubert intended it to be sung.

Miserere Mei Deus - Kings College Chapel Choir
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZL3POaATn8&feature=related
Legend has it that Allegri's Miserere was so beautiful it was only allowed to be performed inside the walls of the Vatican (as were many of the works inside the Church) and any person taking the manuscript of the music outside its walls was subject to excommunication. The story goes that the 14 yr old Mozart, after only one hearing, was able to write it down entirely on memory and sent it to England to be published. The Pope was so amazed at Mozart's musical retention that he forgave him. And Allegri's miserere now belongs to the world because of Mozart.

Romeo & Juliet (Ballet) - Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI9akyHz_wc&feature=related
Very powerful dance and music from Prokofiev's ballet about the star-crossed lovers.

pianist (5years old girl):Bach Gigue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI_xx82oTO8&feature=fvw
This TINY 5 yr-old girl is playing a little 'Gigue' from J.S Bach haha lmao This little girl is too cute and so talented.

The Next Mozart? 6-Year Old Piano Prodigy Wows All
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUx4t4W4eVY&feature=related

Jan Lucker paints Arnold Bax
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVmLxOypgfE
Love the music of Arnold Bax; and I like how this video shows a synthesis of two seemingly different art forms.

Aaron Copland's Our Town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKimMVY7DXw
Not the greatest version ever, but one of my favorites from one of America's best and most influential composers.

Aaron Copland - Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiLTwtuBi-o&feature=related
Ditto.

Tchaikovsky - Waltz of the Flowers (from Disney's "Fantasia" 1940)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTLTyeGVdBg

Gustav Holst - The Planets Op.32 Jupiter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6NopU9K_8M
My favorite of "The Planets." "The concept of the work is astrological[3] rather than astronomical (which is why Earth is not included). The idea was suggested to Holst by Clifford Bax, who introduced him to astrology; Holst became quite a devotee of the subject, and liked to cast friends' horoscopes for fun.[3][4] Each movement is intended to convey ideas and emotions associated with the influence of the planets on the psyche, not the Roman deities."

Maurice Ravel - Pavane for Dead Princess (Gian-Philip Toro conducts from the Collégiale Notre Dame)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dckOerDVTa8&feature=related
I can't decide if I love this music or just think it's so-so and unfulfilling to that which it sets out accomplish...and this seems to be the consensus among music fans. "Ravel described the piece as "an evocation of a pavane that a little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court". The Pavane was warmly welcomed by the public, but received much more subdued reviews from Ravel's fellow musicians. Indeed, Ravel himself complained that it "lacked daring". Subsequent performances tended to be much too slow and plodding. In one instance, Ravel attended just such a performance, and afterward mentioned to the pianist that it was called "Pavane for a Dead Princess", not "Dead Pavane for a Princess". This is one of those works that remains up for debate on many points. What do you think???

For The Love of a Princess from the film "Braveheart" (Harp)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ7mqjZEEO4
There's just something that's absolutely fascinating and enchanting about the harp.

Mozart - Magic Flute (Queen of the Night Aria)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ODfuMMyss&feature=related
A Royal Opera House production; Diana Damrau as Queen of Night

Mozart - Flute & Harp Concerto 2nd movement (Performed by Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRVzdwDgegQ&feature=related
No one ever wrote for the flute and harp like Mozart.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No 17 in G major, KV 129 - 2. Andante
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8knFqzFMq6M&feature=related
Light and airy Mozart; this song really captures that old South German-North Austrian sound at it's best.

Mozart Symphony 38 D Major 'Prague Symphony' (1/4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IulPPkoU03k&feature=related
"Although Mozarts popularity among the Viennese waxed and waned, he was consistently popular among the Bohemians and had a devoted following in Prague. A piece appearing in the Prager Neue Zeitung shortly after Mozarts death expresses this sentiment: "Mozart seems to have written for the people of Bohemia, his music is understood nowhere better than in Prague, and even in the countryside it is widely loved." The Prague Symphony was written in gratitude for their high esteem."..."Most classical period scholars acknowledge that 20th century tempi were much to slow in regards to the classical repertoire. This is borne out by writings and the metronome markings left to us in writings by contemporaries such as Spohr." That last statement explains exactly why it's so hard to find an accurate performance of a classical work. Today's musicians simply can't keep up with the speed that was played in those days. Which is why it's so very difficult to find an accurate playing of Mozart's Prague Symphony, but this performance is one of the best I've found on youtube.

Vaclav Talich conducts A.Dvorak Slavonic dance No. 11 F major
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPpK84On2...t=1&index=9
There are two series of Dvorak's Slavonic dances. The first (op. 46) includes dances 1 to 8. The second (op. 72) includes dances 9 to 16. I love ALL of them for various reasons; some are very tranquil and meloncoly, others are loud and vivacious dances sound taken straight from the Bohemian forest. I like 11 the best probably b/c when I hear I can actually picture a Bohemian peasant couple shuffling around the dance floor.

Dvorak - Slavonic Dances Op. 46 No. 6 (piano)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S39gwKSb6TQ
Also a favorite and one I love to listen to on the piano.

Bedrick Smetana - Vltava (Moldau) by Czech PO & Ashkenazy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8G9qHNS68s&feature=related
Written during a time when Czechoslavakia was under the rule of the Hapsburg Empire, struggling to maintain its sense of culture and language, this is a song from Smetana that is often synonymous with Czech pride and heritage.

Lorin Hollander-Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No.5 3rdMovement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCyJ_13RrBM&feature=related
This entire piece is one that I enjoy putting on in the evenings around dinner time, but this 3rd movement is my favorite. (And notice the Burgess Meredith-"Mick" from ROCKY-appearance in this video. Haha)

George Gershwin: An American in Paris (New York Philharmonic Orchestra in North Korea)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUfI6v6SwL4
An American in Paris performed in North Korea; speaks to the power of music.

Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, op.11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRMz8fKkG2g&feature=related
Leonard Slatkin Conducts the BBC Orchestra on September 15 2001 in honor of those who lost their lives a few days prior.

Mark Isham - From the film "A River Runs Through It"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJyk8IiegME&feature=related
I thought about starting a seperate thread for film scores, but this will do for now. Love this entire score!

John Ireland - A Downland Suite - 3rd Movement (Minuet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUPLaj0RrrU

Short Trip Home (Edgar Meyer, Joshua Bell, Mike Marshall, & Sam Bush)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBBCF9hxBUI
Not a huge fan of post-classical, but these guys are an exception.

J.S Bach - Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3mKkLMzLpc
Performed by Winchester Cathedral Choir

W.A Mozart - Ave Verum Corpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSHdzBT17LU&feature=related
Performed from the Cistercian Abbey of Rein bei Graz in Austria. Truly a sight to behold.

Dmitri Shostakovich - Waltz 2 Russian Waltz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX1fiE0U1qA&feature=related
Haha this waltz from Dmitri Shostakovich is just entirely too much fun listening to and singing along with. Probably my favorite piece from my favorite Russian composer. (And Andre Rieu seriously has to be one of the best violinists in the history of the universe.)

Alexander Borodin - Polovtsian Dances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8C8frqCKKg&feature=related
HD broadcast of the beautiful Russian ballet.

Leonard Bernstein - Candide Overture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=422-yb8TXj8
Leonard Bernstein conducting his Candide

Tchaikovsky — Nutcracker Suite Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (From Disney's "Fantasia" 1940)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8At8zfh_o3E&feature=related

"The Ludlow" from Legends Of The Fall (1994)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0nzi0QasKQ
Another score from a film starring Brad Pitt, "The Ludlow" is part of the beautiful score that drew serious acclaim from classical music circles; truly a classic piece (the music, too).

Gabriel Fauré - Sicilienne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UScYJNHMmSI&feature=related
Performed from the atrium of the municipal library of Palermo

Broom o' the Cowdenknowes - Anonymous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-S-8rOOxA8
Sung and performed by Alys Howe on Harp

Classical/guitar, Jim Greeninger, Recuerdos de la Alhambra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzKsNIRrV4
This is a classical guitar piece composed in 1896 by Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tárrega that's really become one of the signature pieces of classic guitar -- fans of "The Sopranos" might recognize this one (6A I think, the scene where the Italian gunmen fly back to Italy after killing the Frankie Vallie character.)

I don't think I've heard Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring played at that tempo before? Do you know why they made that choice?

I always found these lyrics very amusing and very modern. The sergeant of police is supposed to be a bass voice, which it's often not in productions these days. Too much soy in the diet???

My favorite classical piece .

since we're updating, I'd add to my favorites all of Rossini's overtures, and almost anything by J.S. Bach, IMO the greatest musical genius for whom we have a record. Interestingly, Bach was famous in his time for being the greatest living organist, and his matchless keyboard compositions were viewed as accessories to his playing genius. Of all his interpreters, my favorite is the late, great, flamboyant Virgil Fox. He was also a brilliant interpreter of Caesar Franck's organ compositions. Fox's version of Franck's "Final in B Flat" is the tops.

Lilo - The Pirates of Penzanze is absolutely one of my favorite operas as well. God, I haven't been to the theatre in ages.

Pb - "It's so sad. All your knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons.."--Elaine to Jerry in 'Seinfeld'

Tb - how very interesting that the same composer considered the master of the liturgical pipe organ would also be the name most closely associated with "Baroque pop" (a style of music originated in the mid-1960s that brought elements of classical music into the writing and recording of rock 'n' roll songs). His matchless keyboard compositions and timeless melodies still resonate today and remain essential.

You guys have probably forgotten more than I know about class music and I want to correct myself when I earlier labeled Alexander Borodin's PRINCE IGOR a Russian ballet, b/c more technically it's a Ukranian ballet I think. It was written with Borodin's "Kazak Raz Peresekli Dunai?" or A Cossack Once Crossed the Danube. I've never been to the Bolshoi ballet but these dances are a standard performance.

The ballet tells the story of how the Cossacks mystified the Russian Empire as they integrated their Eastern, Cossack lifestyle into the world of Western Russian society. The beautiful, dreamy dance sequence of the Cossack princesses juxtaposed with the ferocious march and dance of the Cossack warriors -- it's quite a scene!

I've always loved the ballet, btw. I think the reason that so many professional football and basketball players take up ballet during and after their careers is because just like those respective sports, ballet and dance are all about spacing, footwork, and timing.

Ice, thank you for posting "Swan Lake", definitely one of my favorites.

We were lucky enough to see "Swan Lake" at the Met in the Sixties with Nureyev and Fontayne. Unforgettable.

Interesting (to me) sidelight:
Martin Scorsese makes brilliant use of music in his films. He used the very familiar Intermezzo from "Cavalleria Rusticana" during the credits, then segued to Forties and Fifties pop. But he used music from two obscure (in America) Mascagni operas: The Barcarole from "Stefano" during the color films of some of his fights, Joey's wedding, throwing Vickie in the swimming pool; and the Intermezzo from "Guglielmo Ratcliff" in the opening of the scene where Joey meets Tommy Como. What's more, all three Mascagni pieces were played by Orchestra of Bologna Municop, conducted by Arturo Basile; and I haven't been able to find those pieces by them anywhere except on the "Raging Bull" double CD.

SO jealous!!! I saw the Royal Ballet perform it at Lincoln Center in the 1980s. It was wonderful, but I would have given anything to see Nureyev and Fontayne.

[quote=Lilo]I really like the version that the Modern Jazz Quartet did with the Swingle Swingers but this one is also pretty good.. [\quote]
We were fortunate to see MJQ several times in the Village in the early '60's. They played with absolute Swiss-watch precision. My hero was bassist Percy Heath, who would take the stage with his music stand and bow. He anchored the group. They also had some notable collaborations, my favorite was with Laurindo Almeida.

[

Turnbull is a good man...

Aw, he's okay .

Haha I love it. Mr. Turnbull was sporting his leather jacket and doing his best Brando in '54 when "The Wild One" came to his local movie house, then I guess he grew out his hair in the sixties and hung out with the 'hipsters' in Greenwich village. Oh, but ain't that America.

I would have loved to have seen a Leonard Bernstein conducted symphony at the Met back in the 60's, btw. There's something about Orchestra Conductor that absolutely fascinates and bewilders me. It's really one of the only positions in the world that is still a sort-of medieval craft, like that of an apothecary or something, one that can only truly be learned if studied under instruction from someone who's 'in the club' so to speak. It's been passed down through the generations and Bernstein was really one of the last of the true 'old masters' who learned under the same tutelage and hierarchy of instructors that were put in the place by the original masters of music from the late medieval and dark ages. He represented a synthesis of the old and new though I think, and he was really one of the great 'troubled artists' of the age. Does anyone have a Bernstein story to share? He's really one of the reasons I got into classical music.

And I recommend giving a listen to some of these great voices of classical music and opera that Turnbull mentioned in another thread:

Andy Warhol said everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. That was mine...

Bach is a favorite.

Ice, there's a famous (for its day) story about Bach's prowess:

In 1717, Louis Marchand, considered the greatest keyboardist in France, was visiting Saxony and agreed to take part in an organ improvisation contest with Bach. The night before the contest, he sneaked into the church where Bach was practicing. After a few minutes of listening, he fled back to France. No contest!


I have a theory about Jesu and other of Bach's (and other classical organists') religious music:

The pipe organ is "the king of instruments." And, in Bach's day and afterward, the masters of the organ were the greatest and most famous musicians of their day. But, all the organs were in churches--and the local bishops controlled access to the king of instruments. So, my theory goes, Bach and others may or may not have been religious, but in order to get access to the organ, they had to put churchy titles on their compositions. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" may have been Bach's equivalent of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," but "Jesu" rang the bishop's chimes. Similarly, Marchand's "Grand Jeu" would have made a perfect processional for his bishop on Easter Sunday.

I'm pretty sure that Bach really was very religious.
On the other hand he hardly came into contact with non-religious literature. He owned very few books, most of them religious.
His non-religious works are based on simple folk-style lyrics, even the modern-topic coffee-cantata.

Yes, Bach probably was quite religious,though I don't think his best known organ work, the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, has anything churchy about it. I agree about the folk melodies--especially the "little book" he composed for his wife.

Then again, the brilliant Caesar Franck was the house organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, but saved his creative energies for evening sessions with his friends and admirers, including Aristide Cavaille-Coll, the master organ builder. I always heard a distinctly Art Nouveau quality in his major organ works.

This almost sounds like a clavichord or harpsichord instead of an ukulele.

I've always found fascinating studying the relationship between the church and the music that came to be associated with church liturgy. Some composers like Mozart were bound to the archbishop of the region no matter what their own personal thoughts on religion might have been, while composers like Schubert (Ave Maria) and Bach seemed to perhaps have had a natural penchant for the ecclesiastical in a time when the Church obviously played a huge role in daily life especially in Germany and Austria during time of Hapsburgs.

Bach's Toccata indeed sounds like something one would hear at a haunted house at Halloween time more so than in a church setting, but then again I guess they're not so different and it's completely conceivable that the church simply absorbed the music within the walls of the vatican with all of the other beautiful melodies that were supposedly divinely inspired.

Bach's Toccata is arubaly still one of the most recognizable sounds in music, though. Last year one of my local concert halls did a Halloween special completely based on pipe organ music, mostly from Bach. The story-high collection of pipes and tubing is still truly a modern marvel IMO.

Spartacus - Love Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ6e8-94JRE&feature=related
One of the best scores in cinematic history

Ben Hur love theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUUbosD2XqA&feature=related
Ditto.

The Determination Of The Human Spirit: Amputee Stuns TV Show With Talented Toes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP-GTwy9jjI&feature=related

Anne Akiko Meyers performs Autumn in New York
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZP6WdRjFv0
A classic tune set to violin; this is one of the best performances I've ever heard. Anne Meyers is simply amazing.

Lover's Waltz - J. Ungar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL74LHmlYi0
Performed by Ithaca Summer Camp Preludio Concert

Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony 4 "Italian" 3/4, Ramon Tebar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcPm4qUvqS0&feature=related
Monumental Theater, Madrid (Spain) April 11th, 2008

Antonin Dvorak "Song to the moon" Rusalka Gala
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLUY2HEgIc&feature=related
Possibly the most beautiful piece of music I've ever heard, you'd be hardpressed to find a better rendition than that of Milada Subrtova singing in her native Czech. So pretty.

Margot Fonteyn Rose Adagio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff9wotb7pyM&feature=related
Fonteyn dancing to the music of Tchaikovsky. Check out this footwork!!1

If You Were Coming In The Fall (Music set to the poetry of Emily Dickinson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqB7lVvd2t0&feature=related
Combining classical music with poetry is a common practice in the arts world, often with the poetry of masters such as Emily Dickinson. This is a collaboration done by a friend of mine who actually won the poetry-classical music competition at his school last year...'If you were coming in the fall, I'd brush the summer by With half a smile and half a spurn, As housewives do a fly. If I could see you in a year, I'd wind the months in balls, And put them each in separate drawers, Until their time befalls.'

Theme from "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Elmer Bernstein)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t98LWNwUhI
I love how classic music, literature and film often come together. This is one of my favorite scores ever and one of my favorite stories as well. At the story's end when Scout says "Boo Radley (played by Robert Duvall) finally came out of his house that summer" as the music hits its peak, is one of my favorite moments in Cinematic and Literary history. All enhanced by the power of the music.

One of Turnbull's favorites passed away a few weeks ago
The most "colorful" soprano of all-time.

Soprano Joan Sutherland dead at 83

A soprano called "La Stupenda" by her Italian fans, Miss Sutherland was acclaimed from her native Australia to North America and Europe for the wide range of roles she took on during a career that spanned four decades. But she was particularly praised for her singing of operas by Handel and 19th-century Italian composers.

Tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who joined with Marilyn Horne in Miss Sutherland's farewell gala recital at Covent Garden in London on Dec. 31, 1990, called her "the greatest coloratura soprano of all time."

The term, derived from "color," refers to a soprano with a high range and the vocal agility to sing brilliant trills and rapid passages.

Miss Sutherland's purity of tone and brilliant vocal display made her pre-eminent in the revival of Italian bel canto operas, taking on the mantle of Maria Callas.

Miss Sutherland started singing as a small child, crouching under the piano and copying her mother, Muriel Alston Sutherland, "a talented singer with a glorious mezzo-soprano voice," according to Miss Sutherland's biographer, Norma Major, wife of former British Prime Minister John Major.

"I was able from the age of 3 to imitate her scales and exercises," she wrote in her autobiography. "As she was a mezzo-soprano, I worked very much in the middle area of my voice, learning the scales and arpeggios and even the dreaded trill without thinking about it. The birds could trill, so why not I?

"I even picked up her songs and arias and sang them by ear, later singing duets with her — Manrico to her Azucena. I always had a voice."

Story Continues

Last Sunday for Halloween a friend and I accompanied some other friends and their two children to the Austin Symphony’s annual Halloween Children’s Concert. The show featured "frightfully fun symphonic music that was stimulating for young eyes and ears (ages 2-10)." The entire family was invited to dress up in their favorite costume and enjoyed “boo-tiful” music with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, featuring music from The Wizard of Oz, In the Hall of the Mountain King, excerpts from The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and more. haha It was a nice, relaxing way to spend the day.

I saw Meyers on MSNBC a few days before and was intrigued.

Ice, that Sutherland clip was very nice! Thanks.

Although there are limits I like it when people take a piece written for one instrument and perform it on another.

We saw Segovia at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1961. Wonderful! Also saw Carlos Montoya (flamenco) there the same year.

LUCKY MAN...
Montoya, Segovia...Giants walked the earth in those days...